IHS Mission Statement

A strategic business plan is already in process of being developed by a workgroup of tribal leaders, IHS personnel and private sector consultants. In order to overcome the resistance to change Dr. Trujillo must provide open communication between all

A strategic plan is a tool that delivers guidance in achieving a mission or goal with maximum proficiency and control for an organization. Strategic planning is used to transform and revitalize organizations. The plan helps provide an inclusive understanding of opportunities and challenges both internally and externally for the organization. The plan delivers an assessment of the strengths and limitations that are realistic within the company. A well-developed strategic plan will offer a comprehensive approach and empowerment for the stakeholders involved. It is an opportunity for learning and understanding priorities that will drive the business to succeed. Jones (2010), describes how in health care organizations, strategic plans

The Cherokee nation of Oklahoma is one of the many native Indian tribes that place a great emphasis on health care. There are noticeable efforts in improving the health system in the Cherokee nation as well as the health of its individuals. For a long time, the Cherokee nation has engaged in successful health care experiences such as building health centers, launching health programs or even individually engaging in the health field to improve the overall healthcare in the nation.

Strategic Planning is an essential first step in the development of a result-base accountability system,” (Schilder, 2013, p. 1). In strategic planning an organization must know their goals, missions, and how to reach them. Health care facilities are in huge demand for the elderly and for people who lives in low-income communities. A person who receives good quality health care services can prevent the spread of contagious diseases. This paper will describe the need of the community, population it is serving, and a brief description of the facility.

Though American Indians are enjoying an independent public health system with above $3 billion funds provided by Congress annually for delivering healthcare services to them, still figure and facts on health status of American Indians reveal that they are facing many difficulties and have to suffer from diverse type of illness and disease at a misappropriate level. Since long it was identified by medical communities that there are wide spread diseases diabetes, alcoholism, tuberculosis, suicide, unintentional injuries, and other health conditions among American Indian and they are dying of these diseases at shocking rates (American Heart Association [AHA], 2010). Through this essay I want to discuss the healthcare status of American Indians in the perspective of their culture as how it impacted and lead to develop mistrust between amongst the medical community and American Indians.

With regards to this, healthcare workers also identified a number of emerging positive attitudes across Indian country. Tribes of Native American communities, for example, report that they are taking steps themselves to eliminate abuse. The feeling is growing that the best--perhaps only way--to overcome Indian alcohol and substance abuse

The organization I will focus my assessment on is Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU). SNHU is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution with more than 70,000 online students, where I work as a specialized Military Academic Advisor. Southern New Hampshire University, founded in 1932 as the New Hampshire School of Accounting and Secretarial Science, has evolved into one of the fastest growing and most dynamic private, nonprofit universities in the nation (About us, 2017). There are many departments and programs at SNHU, but I will focus on my position as a fully online Military Academic Advisor. The online programs fall under the College of Continuing and Online Education (COCE). I began training in October 2016, and have retained a lot of the latest information and built on that with continued training and mentorship. Our mission says “We exist to make high-quality education accessible and affordable for all. Through our innovative culture and unwavering commitment to student success, we empower students to transform their lives and the lives of those around them” (About us, 2017).

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the health status of the American Indian/ Alaskan Native (AI/AN). A comparison and contrast of AI/ANs with the national average regarding the health status such as heart disease and strokes will be presented. Multifactorial barriers limiting health, and the overall factors affecting health within this population are identified. Current health status will be presented including health promotion and disparities among this US population. Primary, secondary, and tertiary health promotions will be discussed along with one approach to promoting health offered.

The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (CN) is one of the many Native American tribes that place a great emphasis on health care. There are noticeable efforts and investments in improving the health care system in the Cherokee Nation. Through the building of health care centers, launching health programs, and individually engaged tribal members in the health field, the Cherokee Nation is striving to improve the overall health care of their people.

They tend to be extremely poor and unemployed. They have much higher death rates from alcoholism, tuberculosis, diabetes, injuries, suicide, and homicide. Their life expectancy is 4.6 years less than the general population. The Federal Government expanded their scope of services and allowing them to plan, develop, and administer their own healthcare programs. In 1976, The Indian Health Care Improvement Act was created to minimize prejudice build and trust with American Indians. The federal program Indian Health Service ensure them comprehensive and culturally acceptable health services. They are still medically underserved due to limited resources and the needs are expanding rapidly. The Indian Health Service is divide into 12 area offices in different geographic locations. Due to the locations of the reservation communities they are hard to access geographically. Their locations render the services they really need but they do not utilization the system

The American Indian/Alaskan Native people have a heritage that is rich in culture and history rich in conflict, strife, and triumph (Indians.org, n.d.). The American Indian/Alaskan Native have come a long way compared to their ancestors, however, the culture continues to struggle today with disparities such as poverty, poor health, demographic and social challenges, and a severely limited health care system due in part by lack of funding for health

Knowledge of strategic planning, forecasting and budgeting is extremely important and influences most decisions made at my facility. These processes were well explained in this course. These determine everything from what services we provide to what kind of floor cleaner we purchase. In my case, we are tasked with providing safe care to patients. This means that much of the budget is spent on caregivers and regulatory compliance. We have to be careful where we spend money outside of these categories, as we are not allotted much. In my facility, when I have reached my budget for the year it is a time consuming and usually unsuccessful process to petition for more.

Strategic Planning: Due to the current issues, both internally and externally, the organization is facing, Dr. Townsend is challenged to prepare an action plan to implement the proposed strategy needed to restore the organization back to financial health and improve the morale among the physicians and support staff. Another course of planning Dr. Townsend will challenge is the organizations old structure into a way that all patients will be satisfied.

The Indian Health Service (IHS) is a healthcare program within the Department of Health and Human Services. (Agency Overview n.d.) It provides federal health services to eligible American Indians and Alaska Natives at IHS facilities. (Agency Overview n.d.) Services that IHS provide include medical, dental and vision, ancillary services, such as laboratory and pharmacy, specialty care which include services provided by the physician or specialist. (Agency Overview n.d.) The factors that affect the type of health care depend on the community needs, level of funds and whether treatment is medically necessary (Marx n.d.) American Indians and Alaska Natives can receive direct care at hospitals, health centers and they may be federally or

Having a clear vision is extremely important in order to accomplish goals in life and a well-defined strategy is essential in order to fulfill that vision, thereby, both visioning and strategic thinking go hand in hand. As Souba (2004) states that, “[v]ision without a strategy is a daydream; strategy without vision is a nightmare’” (p. 447). It is evident how this competency is essential in each and every sector, in my opinion; this competency will help in the betterment of healthcare sector as well. This paper will address the importance of having a clear strategy and vision pertaining to the healthcare sector and illustrating a case in the light of it.